Getting distinctions ... mission possible
Remember how you prepared for examinations
during your schooldays? Did you spend many sleepless nights trying to
memorise all the notes? The process of preparing for examinations could be
torturous. That's why all examination candidates yearn for tips on easy
ways to study for good results. Here is some advice from five officers who
got distinctions in the Police Constable/Senior Police Constable to
Sergeant Promotion Qualifying Examination 2001.
Like other examination candidates, these five officers spent much time
in going through the Force Procedures Manual, Police Manual, Police
General Orders and an analysis of past examination questions in debriefing
reports but they also had their unique ways of study.
For PC Chan San-fong, who obtained the highest score of 95 in the
examination, his success was attributable to the strong support from his
girlfriend and her family.
"My girlfriend and her father, both serving Police officers, were
very concerned about my examination. She studied the manuals and orders
together with me even though she did not sit for the examination while her
father was my adviser if I had any questions about the study materials. To
keep me in good shape, her mother prepared a lot of healthy and nutritious
food for me," PC Chan recalled.
PC Lam Ming, who had his mother's support, said: "My mother even
switched the television set off to help me concentrate on my study."
Apart from the traditional method of studying the manuals and orders
thoroughly, some of these top candidates sought 'outside help'. PC Poon
Kim-kiu said: "I read three to four newspapers everyday and analysed
their different views about our colleagues' work. Then I figured out
better ways to deal with similar situations by referring to related Force
procedures and orders."
Meanwhile, PC Chau Chi-hang invited his colleagues to keep on
questioning him about the Force procedures and orders. "Sometimes I
had heated discussions with my colleagues when we had different
interpretations of certain procedures or orders. In these cases, we would
consult other experienced colleagues or our superiors to clarify our
queries," he said.
He stressed that poor health could impair a candidate's performance.
"I had failed in previous exams because I was ill. Therefore, I
started jogging everyday about five months before this year's examination
and took enough rest to keep me in good shape. It really worked!"
Going back to the traditional studying method, PC Cheng Kam-fai advised
candidates to have a general idea of all examination topics before
studying thoroughly the topics which were likely to be asked in the
examination. "I think it is unwise to concentrate on certain 'hot'
topics only," he added.
These five officers also strongly advised colleagues who would sit for
next year's examination to make full use of the resources available in the
Force, including the information available on PEN and POINT.
Acting Superintendent Examinations Ho Wing-fu said that it was
encouraging to see so many candidates had achieved good results in this
year's examination. "A total of 18 candidates obtained distinctions
and eight of them scored 90 marks or above," he said.
He encouraged candidates to visit the Examinations Division's homepage
on POINT for examination-related information.
Front row from left: Police Constables Chan San-fong, Poon Kim-kiu and Lam
Ming
Back row from left: Police Constables Chau Chi-hang and Cheng
Kam-fai